Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UPI) Dec 23, 2011 Iranian naval forces launch a massive 10-day exercise Saturday near the Strait of Hormuz, the only way in and out of the Persian Gulf, in what is widely seen as a rehearsal for a threatened closure of the strategic global oil artery if the country is attacked. The Iranians have billed the Velayat-90 drill as the largest they have conducted.

Vilnius (AFP) Dec 23, 2011 Lithuania and Japan's Hitachi on Friday signed a preliminary deal on the building of a new nuclear energy facility to replace a plant closed in 2009 in the Baltic state under an EU agreement. Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius told reporters the two sides "agreed on the content of the concession agreement and its main components" with the final deal expected to be approved next year.

I would like to thank all of you for following my Nuclear Wire. I am planning to continue providing nuclear news in 2012. In the interim, I would like to wish all of you and your families a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

The Wait for the License

By lscheele on Dec 23, 2011 01:00 am

by A. Priori (With no apologies to Clement C. Moore, Henry Livingston, or the thousands who have already parodied the original) ‘Twas the wait for the license, When all through the site, Not a module was fitted, No matter … Continue reading →Read in browser »

NRC grants design certification to Westinghouse AP1000™

By lscheele on Dec 22, 2011 01:40 pm

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission voted unanimously on December 22 in favor of publishing the final certification rule for Westinghouse’s AP1000 reactor design, instructing the agency’s staff to forward the final rule, which amends Appendix D of 10 CFR Part 52, … Continue reading →Read in browser »

U.S. clears another hurdle toward nuclear renaissance

Secretary Chu Statement on AP1000 Reactor Design Certification

December 22, 2011 - 3:25pm

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu issued the following statement today in support of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) decision to certify Westinghouse Electric’s AP1000 nuclear reactor design, a significant step towards constructing a new generation of U.S. nuclear reactors. In February 2010, the Obama Administration announced the offer of a conditional commitment for a $8.33 billion loan guarantee for the construction and operation of two AP1000 reactors at Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generation Plant in Burke, Georgia.
“The Administration and the Energy Department are committed to restarting America’s nuclear industry – creating thousands of jobs in the years ahead and powering our nation’s homes and businesses with domestic, low-carbon energy,” said Secretary Chu. “Today’s decision certifying the AP1000 reactor design marks an important milestone towards constructing the first U.S. nuclear reactors in three decades.”BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Energy Department’s offer of a conditional commitment supports two new 1,100 megawatt Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear reactors at the Vogtle plant, supplementing the two existing reactor units at the facility. The project is expected to create approximately 3,500 onsite construction jobs and 800 permanent jobs once the reactors become operational.
The Energy Department has also engaged in cost-share agreements with industry to provide technical assistance and application support for new reactor design certification, including for the Westinghouse AP1000. These efforts have served to help American companies lead the way in obtaining certification and licensing approvals, helping to streamline these processes for future investments in the U.S. nuclear industry.News Media Contact: (202) 586-4940

Could New Nuclear Reactor Have Prevented Fukushima?

Today, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has certified the Westinghouse AP1000 pressurized water reactor design. This is a significant milestone, and with this announcement by the NRC it's clear that the COL process for Plant Vogtle and V.C. Summer stations (two reactors each station) could be complete in the first quarter of next year.

Days before Japanese earthquake and tsunami, Congressman wrote to Commission about critical safety issues with reactor design identified by senior NRC staff member

WASHINGTON D.C. – Congressman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) released the following statement after the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) voted to approve the final rule for the Westinghouse AP1000 design and which also granted a rule change requested by Southern Company to allow construction to begin before the NRC staff have incorporated and published all reactor design changes adopted by the Commission today. One of NRC’s longest-serving staff warned in NRC documents that the reactor’s containment could shatter “like a glass cup” due to flaws in the design of the shield building if impacted by an earthquake or commercial aircraft. In the publicly released votes on the matter, Chairman Greg Jaczko disapproved the proposal to allow the acceleration of reactor construction, Commissioner George Apostolakis voted to approve it, and Commissioner William Magwood’s vote did not refer to it. In the final vote, Chairman Jaczko was overridden by his colleagues.

“Today, the NRC has presented its holiday gifts to the nuclear industry,” said Rep. Markey, top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee and a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. “Instead of doing all they should to protect nuclear reactors against seismically-induced ground acceleration, these Commissioners voted to approve the acceleration of reactor construction. While they continue to slow walk the implementation of recommendations of the NRC professional staff’s Near-Term Task Force on Fukushima, they have fast-tracked construction of a reactor whose shield building could ‘shatter like a glass cup’ if impacted by an earthquake or other natural or man-made impact.”

In August, Rep. Markey sent a letter urging the rejection of the proposed acceleration of construction that the NRC today approved. Under current regulations, construction, including safety-related construction of systems and structures that need to function during an accident, can only begin upon final approval by the NRC of a reactor design. The rule change approved today allows Southern Company to begin safety-related reactor construction at Vogtle before NRC staff incorporates the changes - which could include safety-related changes - in the final rule to the reactor design that the NRC also approved today.

Just days before the earthquake in Japan, Rep. Markey wrote a letter to the NRC urging the Commission not to approve the Westinghouse AP1000 design until serious safety concerns were addressed. One of NRC’s longest-serving staff, Dr. John Ma, had warned in NRC documents that the reactor’s containment could shatter “like a glass cup” due to flaws in the design of the shield building if impacted by an earthquake or commercial aircraft. The shield building has the critical safety function of preventing damage to the reactor that could cause fuel meltdowns and radiation releases. In May, the NRC acknowledged outstanding safety-related issues with the AP1000 design and asked Westinghouse for resolution before the Commission moved forward with final certification.

On December 9, Rep. Markey released the report “Regulatory Meltdown”, which documents how NRC Commissioners William Magwood, Kristine Svinicki, William Ostendorff and George Apostolakis sought to impede the NRC response to the Fukushima meltdowns by delaying the public release of and action on the recommendations made by the NRC's Near-Term Task Force on Fukushima. These four Commissioners regrettably have a history of voting against the safety recommendations. What follows is an summary of key safety-related votes on which Chairman Jaczko was outvoted by his colleagues over the past three years:

April 15, 2009: The Commission voted 4-1 (Chairman Jaczko disapproved, Commissioner Svinicki approved, and the other Commissioners who voted have since left the NRC) to support a proposal to enhance the security associated with cesium chloride sources rather than to phase out the most dispersible form of the material altogether as recommended by the National Academies of Science in 2008. Cesium chloride is so dangerous that after scavengers found a small amount in Brazil in 1987 and children and others spread it on their bodies, 250 people were contaminated, 20 became ill with symptoms of radiation poisoning and 4 died.

June 30, 2009: The Commission voted 2-2 (Chairman Jaczko approved, Commissioner Svinicki disapproved, and the other Commissioners who voted have since left the NRC) to defeat a staff proposal to expand the National Source Tracking System to include Category 3 radioactive sources, which the International Atomic Energy Agency says, if not safely managed or securely protected, could cause permanent injury to a person who handled them, or were otherwise in contact with them, for some hours.

June 1, 2010: The Commission voted 4-1 (with only Chairman Jaczko voting to disapprove) in support of a proposal to reduce the limitation on the number of work hours for employees who perform quality control and quality verification functions at nuclear power plants.

September 7, 2010: The Commission voted 4-1 (with only Chairman Jaczko voting to disapprove) to support a proposal to stop having separate votes on all requests to be exempted from the requirement that ‘near-site emergency operations facilities’ be located near to the site of where the actual nuclear reactor emergencies or accidents might occur. Licensees have instead proposed the creation of ‘centralized emergency operations facilities’ that are hundreds of miles away from the nuclear reactors located in multiple States they are intended to serve.

December 2, 2010: The Commission voted 4-1 (with only Chairman Jaczko voting to approve) to disapprove a proposal to require specific NRC licenses for radioactive materials that could be used to make a dirty bomb whose activity level is greater than 1/10th of “Category 3,” even though a previous Commission had supported such a proposal. Requiring a license would have alleviated some concerns related to the potential for a terrorist to aggregate these smaller sources to create a larger improvised dirty bomb.

March 15, 2011: The Commission voted 4-1 (with only Chairman Jaczko voting to disapprove) to approve a staff proposal to ignore a recommendation by NRC’s Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards to ensure that safety measures that are assumed to address the hotter reactor cores and higher pressures associated with ‘power up-rates’ (which enable nuclear reactors to produce more electricity) would work to prevent a melt-down in the event of an accident. The Advisory Committee believed that the possibility that a fire or earthquake could breach the containment of the nuclear reactor needed to be considered.

June 10, 2011: The Commission voted 4-1 (with Chairman Jazcko disapproving) to reject a request to further extend the NRC’s enforcement discretion policy for nuclear reactors that do not comply with the NRC’s fire protection regulations. The path chosen by the majority of the Commission allows some nuclear power plants to go longer than eight years without identifying their fire-related safety deficiencies and taking steps to mitigate them.

October 12, 2011: The Commission voted 4-1 (with Chairman Jazcko disapproving) to add further consideration of the costs or burden of NRC regulations to industry by requiring NRC staff to analyze the cumulative financial impact of all regulations on licensees.

November 8, 2011: The Commission voted 3-2 (with Chairman Jaczko and Commissioner Ostendorff voting to approve) to disapprove a staff proposal that the Commission adopt an amendment to its Reactor Oversight Process, described as “a means to collect information about licensee performance, assess the information for its safety significance, and provide for appropriate licensee and NRC response,” to add a new performance measure related to leaks of radioactive materials from nuclear reactors.

December 15, 2011: The Commission voted (with Chairman Jaczko voting to support) to reject a recommendation made by the NRC’s Near-Term Task Force on Fukushima and the NRC staff review of that Task Force’s recommendation to consider all the post-Fukushima safety upgrades to be mandatory for the “adequate protection” of nuclear power plants. The other four Commissioners said it was “premature” to approve this recommendation. Without it, all safety upgrades would be required to go through a cost-benefit analysis in order to justify implementation, and some may never be required as a result.

U.S. NRC Blog

The NRC’s five Commissioners have approved a rule that certifies the amended AP1000 reactor design for use in the Unites States.

The Commissioners took this final step in the certification process after four years of review by the NRC’s technical staff. The staff carefully examined information from the reactor’s designer, Westinghouse, and asked thousands of additional questions to ensure the company appropriately resolved all the issues necessary to show the design is safe. The amended design includes changes to some reactor systems and it shows the AP1000 can keep the public safe even after the impact of a large commercial aircraft.

The new rule means the AP1000 is generally acceptable for use by companies interested in building and operating new U.S. nuclear power plants. Companies still have to show, however, that the reactor can be safely built and operated on a given piece of land in an environmentally acceptable way. The NRC’s Combined License process answers those site-specific questions.

Several companies submitted Combined License applications for the AP1000 while the design was still under review – NRC regulations allow this because certification must be complete before any decisions are reached on the licenses.

The NRC is now ready to complete the Combined License process for the first two AP1000 applications, one for the Vogtle site in Georgia and one for the Summer site in South Carolina. The Commission is now deciding if the applications and the NRC staff’s review meet the requirements of the Atomic Energy Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.

If the Commission concludes all the requirements are met, the NRC will be able to issue licenses for the Vogtle and Summer projects. These decisions are expected early next year.

By Dan Yurman, December 22, 2011
GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy has proposed to the U.K. government to build an advanced nuclear reactor that would consume the country’s stockpile of surplus plutonium.The technology is called PRISM, which stands for Power Reactor Innovative Small Module. If accepted, it would be very different than the other proposals to process plutonium, including those that would turn it into mixed oxide... » Continue...

GE-Hitachi proposes to burn U.K. plutonium stockpile

By dyurman on Dec 22, 2011 01:00 am

An advanced reactor could be used to consume 112 tonnes of weapons grade material By Dan Yurman GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy has proposed to the U.K. government to build an advanced nuclear reactor that would consume the country’s stockpile of … Continue reading →Read in browser »

Edison Electric Institute President Tom Kuhn Released the Following Statement on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Final Utility MACT Rule

PR Newswire

WASHINGTON, Dec. 21, 2011

WASHINGTON, Dec. 21, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- "EPA's MACT rule is the most expensive rule in the agency's history. It will require a significant number of electric generating units to design, obtain approval for and install complex controls or replacements in a very short timeframe. In some cases, it will mean that new transmission and natural gas pipelines will have to be built.
"EPA has made useful technical changes from its original proposal. Nevertheless, we believe the Administration is underestimating the complexity of implementing this rule in such a short period of time, which can create reliability challenges and even higher costs to customers. The Administration is not using all the available authorities in the Clean Air Act to coordinate implementation, to ensure electric reliability, and to avoid excessive costs."The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) is the association of U.S. shareholder-owned electric companies. Our members serve 95 percent of the ultimate customers in the shareholder-owned segment of the industry, and represent approximately 70 percent of the U.S. electric power industry. We also have more than 65 International electric companies as Affiliate members, and more than 170 industry suppliers and related organizations as Associate members.
SOURCE Edison Electric Institute

Why BP Solar Failed

After a 40 year run, it's giving up in the face low cost manufacturing in Asia, and its inability to innovate.

Kevin Bullis 12/21/2011

1 Comment

BP Solar, which has roots going back decades to the early days of solar panel manufacturing, can't compete in a difficult solar panel market, so it's closing its doors, according to reports. It joins a number of other solar manufacturers, including famously the U.S. government-backed Solyndra, that have failed during difficult times for the solar industry.

Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson today announced that the final Energy and Water Development conference report for fiscal year 2012 increases funding for nuclear energy and continues progress toward the development of new nuclear technologies, including those under development at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Simpson is a senior member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, serving as one of its members for nearly nine years.“I am very pleased that the Appropriations Committee and Congress have once again demonstrated strong support for the development of nuclear energy and provided the resources necessary to continue our nation’s progress on new and promising nuclear technologies,” said Congressman Simpson. “Idaho National Laboratory and its exceptional workforce play a vital national and international role in leading the development of new nuclear technologies, and this bill will help maintain and expand that role in the future. We all know that Congress has had to make some very difficult choices about where to focus limited taxpayer resources, and with that in mind I am very grateful for the confidence my colleagues have shown for nuclear energy in this bill.”Simpson also commended the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy and the Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy, Dr. Pete Lyons, for the support they have given to INL and nuclear energy programs. “The road to securing support for nuclear programs begins with the budgets produced by Assistant Secretary Pete Lyons and the folks who work at the DOE and at labs like INL,” said Congressman Simpson. “I want to thank Dr. Lyons for working with me and other supporters of nuclear energy to gain support for these critical programs in Congress.”The fiscal year 2012 Energy and Water Development conference report includes $768.6 million for the DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy, a $31 million increase over the FY2011 funding level of $737 million. Nuclear energy research and development programs that receive funding within the $768.6 million allotment include:

Reactor Concepts Research and Development - $115.5 million. This funding includes $25 million for the Light Reactor Sustainability program and $40 million for the Next Generation Nuclear Plant program;

Fuel Cycle Research and Development - $187.4 million;

Small Modular Reactor Licensing Technical Support - $67 million;

The bill also provides $386.9 million for cleanup activities associated with the Idaho Cleanup Project and the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project co-located on the Idaho desert with Idaho National Laboratory. The funding level of $386.9 million represents a $4.1 million increase over the President’s request and allows the significant cleanup activities currently underway to continue their progress.Overall, the Energy and Water Development Appropriations conference report provides $32.1 billion dollars for the functions of the Department of Energy, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation and a number of independent agencies, including the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Bonneville Power Administration. This level of funding for these agencies represents a reduction of $4.1 billion below the President’s request.“If energy supply and price instability have taught us anything, it is that our nation needs to improve its focus on developing clean, safe, and domestic sources of energy and that nuclear energy must be a strong component of our nation’s energy portfolio,” said Simpson.The conference report is expected to pass the House and Senate today and be sent to the President for his signature before the current authorization for funding expires at midnight.

With the passing of Kim Jong-il, many questions are being asked about North Korea, its people, and its dealings with the outside world. There is, however, one issue that trumps all others: what does this change of leadership mean for the North Korean nuclear program? So far, there are no clear indications of a change in North Korea’s posture towards the outside world. There’s the possibility that his son, Kim Jong-un, will lean on his “nuclear card” in some show of strength to enhance his domestic position. However, there’s also the possibility he might refrain from any sort of tactical or crisis driven display to strengthen his position. Kim belongs to the young generation – he’s a man in his 20s with a long life ahead of him – and so may be inclined to leave the nuclear card unplayed in order to gain economic and political benefits for his country. The ... Read More...

U.S. NRC Blog

Yes, it’s true – the NRC has just unveiled an even better ADAMS. The NRC’s Agencywide Documents Access and Management System, which is available from our website, now boasts a number of enhancements – some implemented directly as a result of public input.

We’ve been making continuous improvements and our latest enhancements include a new “content search” feature for searching words either in documents or in index information. Other enhancements include the:

• Ability to display up to 500 search results.

• Ability to save a search as a web link and then use it again to find your frequently requested documents.

• Ability to export a list of documents as hypertext markup language (HTML) or as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.

• Ability to access search-specific folders by right-clicking on the folder or using the “Advanced Search” tab.

ADAMS is an online library that includes all the agency’s publicly available documents as well as a Public Legacy Library that has entries for 2 million older NRC documents stored on microfiche or in paper form.

If you have questions about any of the new search features or you need help to develop an effective search, the reference librarians in our Public Document Room are available to assist.

We hope you find the new search capabilities easier to use and we welcome your feedback via comments to this post.

Storage options for used nuclear fuel are likely to be re-considered following the incidents at Fukushima’s spent fuel pools. But whether storage is local, centralised, or deep under ground, we need to keep our options open.

Hearing Documents

Hearing Video

Chairman Issa Hearing Preview Statement

This hearing will focus on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in the wake of reports that the NRC's Chairman has abused his office and mismanaged his responsibilities to the detriment of the commission's critical work. The concerns about the Chairman are shared amongst the four commissioners – two Democrats and two Republicans. Three of the four were appointed by President Obama. Their joint complaints are not about differences in policy or safety with the Chairman. Rather, their concern involves how the Chairman exercises his responsibilities, intimidates staff, and undermines the law put in place by Congress designating the commission – not the chairman – as the agency's ultimate authority.

An investigation undertaken by the committee has exposed a hostile work environment that is detrimental to the mission of the NRC. It is a detriment to the staff, the Commissioners, and the reputation of the agency. While Chairman Jaczko professes that safety is his number one priority, his leadership style is simultaneously eroding the NRC's ability to execute its mission. It is important that we understand the root cause of this problem and restore the public's confidence in the integrity of this agency.

A New Use For Nuclear Waste: Nuclear Power

If used nuclear fuel is still so dangerous that we have to bury it in mountains, why can’t we keep producing electricity from it? New initiatives around the world are exploring the energy potential of nuclear recycling.

Public health fallout from Japanese quake

Jaczko fiasco in Congress

By lscheele on Dec 21, 2011 01:00 am

By Jim Hopf Seems to be the season of controversy in Washington concerning nuclear issues and energy issues in general. First we had the whole Solyndra affair (discussed in my Nov. 28 post), and now we have an unprecedented—and highly … Continue reading →Read in browser »

60 years ago in Idaho

By rmichal on Dec 20, 2011 04:20 pm

Sixty years ago on December 20, scientists and engineers in Arco, Idaho, successfully used nuclear energy from the EBR-1 to power four 200-watt light bulbs, laying the groundwork for decades of clean electricity and a strong U.S. nuclear energy industry. … Continue reading →Read in browser »